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The Yonahlossee salamander is a woodland species from the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States

Smithsonian Voices

Here’s How You Can Help Amphibians in the Fight Against Extinction

We now know that the killer chytrid fungus originated in Asia and that humans unintentionally spread it around the world

In different time periods and contexts, Elin Lisslass (left) and author Jennie Tiderman-Österberg perform kulning.

Why Sweden’s Ancient Tradition of Calling Home the Herds Is Women’s Work

The spellbinding refrains of the kulning call reflect a tradition that offered women freedom and independence

The Zoo's one-month-old giant panda cub had its first veterinary exam over the weekend. Get the scoop from Laurie Thompson, assistant curator of giant pandas.

Pandamonium

Check Out Pictures and Video of the Giant Panda Cub’s First Veterinary Exam

At one-month-old, all signs point to a healthy, strong cub

Novelist and essayist Marilynne Robinson is one of 24 authors featured in "Her Story: A Century of Women Writers."

The Women Writers Who Shaped 20th-Century American Literature

A new show at the National Portrait Gallery spotlights 24 authors, including Lorraine Hansberry, Sandra Cisneros and Maxine Hong Kingston

Halahtookit, a Nez Perce man, widely believed to be the son of William Clark.

Ask Smithsonian

Are There Native Descendants of the Lewis and Clark Expedition? And More Questions From Our Readers

You’ve got questions. We’ve got experts

Rock legend Chuck Berry drove his 1973 Cadillac Eldorado onto a St. Louis stage in Hail! Hail! Rock ’n’ Roll, a 1987 documentary.

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch on How the Institution Builds Its Collections

Finding the next awe-inspiring artifact requires flexibility, help from the community—and a healthy dose of good luck

Some exhibitions, galleries, interactives, theaters or indoor spaces may be closed or operating at limited capacity, but the Kogod Courtyard at Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery is always a pleasant place to relax.

Here’s What’s New to Explore as Smithsonian Museums Reopen

Two more museums, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of the American Indian, open Friday

“Armed with a fierce intelligence and a love of analytical reasoning, Ginsburg (by Everett Raymond Kinstler, 1996) fought passionately for all Americans to have equal representation under the law and inspired women in particular, to believe in themselves to make positive change,” say Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery.

Nation Mourns Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Who Broke Barriers and Became a Feminist Icon

The Supreme Court justice, who died at 87, “inspired women to believe in themselves,” says the Smithsonian’s Kim Sajet

Pirsig’s 1966 Honda Super Hawk motorcycle, featured in his novel Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values.

Why Robert Pirsig’s ‘Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance’ Still Resonates Today

The author’s meditation on technology treads a whole new path in the modern, digital world

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Alexander von Humboldt

Alexander von Humboldt: The Man History Forgot

Rediscover the 19th-century naturalist who traveled on four continents, wrote 2,500 letters, 36 books and hugely influenced early America

When Alexander von Humboldt (right) traveled to England in 1790, he met a young chemist named James Smithson, the founder of the Smithsonian. Humboldt's influence still resonates throughout the massive museum and research complex.

Alexander von Humboldt

How the Revolutionary Thinker Alexander von Humboldt Helped to Create the Smithsonian

The 19th-century polymath continues to influence the Institution’s research; a major Smithsonian exhibition explains how and why

This marks the first time the fossil has been back in America since 1847, when it made its way through Europe and ultimately ended up at The Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt in Germany.

Alexander von Humboldt

This Mastodon Is a Centerpiece of an Art Exhibition. Why?

Meet the hugely influential Alexander von Humboldt, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and presidents

Poultney Bigelow. Sketch by Poultney Bigelow for Edith Weir (detail), 1884 April 18. Weir family papers.

Smithsonian Voices

Important Hudson River School Archive Is Now Fully Digitized

Prominent artists like Edwin Austin Abbey, Augustus Saint-Gaudens and Eastman Johnson are featured in the Weir Family Papers

In Boston's Mattapan on August 15, 2020, protesters march from Jubilee Christian Church to protest police brutality, systemic racism and other oppressive systems unfavorable to Black and Brown people.

Why Black, Indigenous and Other People of Color Experience Greater Harm During the Pandemic

Scholars take a deep dive into how structural racism intersects with public health

Spindly legs and thick, red fur have earned maned wolves the nickname “foxes on stilts,” but the animal is neither fox nor wolf.

Smithsonian Voices

What the Rhythm of a Maned Wolf’s Heart Reveals

Smithsonian researchers are monitoring stress rates of this keystone species for better ways to manage them

The National Zoo shares favorite moments as curators and keepers train their expert eyes on the Giant Panda Cam, monitoring the young cub's first weeks.

Pandamonium

Top 10 Giant Panda Cub Cam Moments

Two National Zoo curators and the panda keeper journal their favorite moments of the new cub’s first days

Thomas Jefferson, who had suffered great criticism for his religious beliefs, once said that the care he had taken to reduce the Gospels to their core message should prove that he was in fact, a “real Christian, that is to say, a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.”

Why Thomas Jefferson Created His Own Bible

In a new book, Smithsonian curator of religion Peter Manseau tells of how The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth first sparked hot controversy

Photograph of Chiura Obata teaching a children's art class at Tanforan Art School, 1942 / unidentified photographer.

Smithsonian Voices

The Papers of Artist Chiura Obata Chronicle Life Inside World War II Incarceration Camps

At the Smithsonian Archives of American Art, the artist’s story is one of resilience amidst the upheaval

Smoke billows over Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.

Lawsuit Seeks Reparations for Victims of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Led by a 105-year-old survivor of the attack, the plaintiffs detail almost 100 years of lasting harm

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